Elliot Jaspin: Anne Arundel must do more to fund its schools

Courtesy photo

Elliot Jaspin, an Annapolis resident for the past 20 years, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of "Buried In The Bitter Water: A History of Racial Cleansing In America."

Elliot Jaspin, an Annapolis resident for the past 20 years, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of "Buried In The Bitter Water: A History of Racial Cleansing In America." (Courtesy photo)

This year we transferred our 10-year old daughter into the Anne Arundel County Public School system. It has been an education.

My first “lesson” occurred during “Back to School Night” in September. After the usual discussion of bus schedules and cafeteria offerings, a teacher rose to ask for help with the school's “Backpack Buddies” program.

She explained that while the schools offer free breakfast and lunches to poor students, these children may not have enough to eat on weekends. To bridge the gap, the school was asking for donations so they could send these children home on Fridays with a backpack filled with food. I was appalled.

I cannot praise the school too highly for their Backpack Buddies program but why is this even necessary? It took only a few minutes on the Internet for me to find that Anne Arundel County is one of the richest counties in one of the richest states in America. Food is so plentiful here that the Census classifies 28 percent of the population as obese.

Yet the same Census survey finds that 13 percent of the children in the county are “food insecure.”

My second lesson came during our first parent/teacher conference. When our daughter first started school this year, we were told she needed to purchase an “agenda,” a spiral-bound notebook published by the school designed to keep a child's assignments organized. We bought the agenda but our daughter didn't seem to be using it. Why?

The teacher explained that while the school required the agenda, five of her students couldn't afford to buy one. How could she use the agenda if those five students didn't have one and the school did not have the money to provide them for free?

My final lesson came a few nights ago when we went to an orientation for the STEM magnet program at Central Middle School. Students apply to the program which provides them with an enriched program in science, engineering and math. It is clearly a wonderful program.

But we were told there is a catch. While about 400 children are eligible, there are only 100 spaces available. The school's solution: the 100 children are to be chosen by lottery.

I sat silently grappling with what I was hearing. It was another stopgap solution that shortchanged children.

What is to be learned from these lessons? That no child should go hungry is beyond debate. People who offer private donations deserve only our praise. But it is no substitute for a comprehensive, countywide and well-funded government program.

By the same token, every child deserves a free public education. Teachers shouldn't be hamstrung because their students can't afford to buy supplies. And finally, a good public education should not be awarded as a lottery prize.

The problem is not the school system. I have been uniformly impressed by the energy and commitment of every educator I have met. But it is obvious they do not have the resources to do their job.

As I sat there at the STEM meeting, I realized the real problem was all around me. When school officials explained the lottery system, no one, including myself, stood up to protest. We simply accepted this as the way things are. And the legal maxim is clear: silence gives consent.

By our silence, we had assented. Raffling off a child's education was the new normal. I write this because I do not assent. Every child deserves food, a home and a good education. We must tell our elected officials this new normal is unacceptable.

I should have said that at the STEM orientation meeting. I am saying it now.